Apparatus for packing foods



Nov. 12, 1957 G. H. VANIMAN ET AL 2,812,785

- APPARATUS FORPACKING Foons Filed March 22, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORE fin [aw/AMI 44376 flak [hr/verse! ATTORNEYS Nov. 12, 1957 5. H. VANIMAN ET AL 2,812,735

APPARATUS FOR PACKING FOODS Filed March 22, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Nov. 12, 1957 G. H. VANIMAN -ETAL 2,312,785

APPARATUS FOR PACKING FOODS Filed March 22, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS film Kmmw firm! Z 1; Z mmwr/ ATTORNEYS United States Patent 2,812,785 Patented Nov. 12, 1957 APPARATUS FOR PACKIN G EGG-D George H. Vaniman and Carsten Olaf Christensen, Bellingham, Wash.

Application March 22, 1955, Serial No. 455,354

6 Claims. (Cl. 141--164) This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for packing food stuffs and more particularly to apparatus for molding and packing elongated food stuifs such as beans, asparagus, carrots, corn on the cob and the like in cans.

It is the primary purpose and object of the present invention to provide novel food packing apparatus including molds of unique design which are carried as a part of an endless conveyor successively past a loading station, a trimming station and a can filling station in combination with novel means for opening, closing and shifting the molds to facilitate operation at each of the stations to increase the speed and capacity of the apparatus.

It is also an object of the invention to provide improved packing apparatus which, despite its increased speed of operation, minimizes the possibility of damage to delicate food stuffs.

It is a further object of the invention to provide, in a food packing apparatus, novel molds comprising arcuate half sections, each section being relatively movable with respect to the conveyor whereby the molds may be opened fully at the loading station to form a broad shallow pocket to facilitate the loading thereof and which may subsequently be closed to mold the food stuffs as required for transfer to a container.

It is an additional object to provide novel means of simple construction for controlling the position of each of the mold elements which provides positive actuation of the mold elements and eliminates toggles, and other relatively complex mechanical linkages associated with prior comparable machines.

It is also an object of the invention to provide novel food packing apparatus of simplified construction which comprises a minimum number of structurally rugged components, which may be manufactured at substantially reduced cost, which has an extended service life, and which requires little maintenance and adjustment.

It is an additional object to provide novel means for controlling the disposition of the mold elements adjacent the trimming and can filling stations comprising a control sprocket which conveys the molds past these stations and simultaneously positions the mold elements as required.

It is a further object to provide improved apparatus for controlling the disposition of the molds which is effective to close the molds in a unique manner to insure proper disposition of the mold contents, to hold the mold firmly closed during trimming, to open the molds slightly to facilitate transfer of the contents to a container and thereafter to permit the molds to open fully to permit subsequent reloading.

It is also an object to provide a novel mold-conveyor assembly of unique and simplified construction.

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the apparatus of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a bottom elevation of a portion of the novel mold-conveyor assembly;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the molds and control sprocket with other details of the appartus omitted for clarity showing the disposition of the ele ments as the molds and conveyor progress around the control sprocket; and

Figure 5 is an elevation of the can sprocket removed from the mechanism.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the principal components of the mechanism, which will be described in detail subsequently, are mounted on a frame or bed 20 which may easily and conveniently be fabricated from angle irons suitably welded or riveted together although it be understood that other materials and constructions having the desired rigidity may be utilized.

An idler sprocket assembly 22 is rotatably journalled on bearing blocks 24 at the rear of the frame 20 and supports the novel mold-conveyor assembly 26 of the present invention, the mold-conveyor assembly being in the form of an endless belt as shown. The mold-conveyor assembly 26 passes over a control sprocket assembly 2S journalled at the opposite end of the frame 20 on bearing blocks 39, the mold conveyor assembly thus' forming elongated upper and lower feeding and return stretches.

The upper stretch is conveniently at least ten feet long to provide an area for manually loading the mold assemblies 32 which are then carried by the rotation of the control sprocket assembly 28 past the trimming station indicated generally at 34 and a filling station indicated generally at 36.

As shown particularly in Figures 1, 3 and 4, each of the mold assemblies 32 comprises a pair of semi-cylindrical elements 38 and 40 provided with relatively sharp straight edge portions 42 at their free ends. The mold element 38 is provided at its opposite edge with a substantially cylindrical central bearing portion 44 having a central bore 46 through which a pin 48 extends, the pin being held in place by a set screw 49. The opposite mold element 40 is provided with a pair of legs 50 preferably of substantially cylindrical section provided with aligned bores 52 through which the pin 48 also extends.

The portions of the mold element 38 opposite the legs 50 on the mold 40 and the portion of the mold 40 opposite the extension 44 of the mold 38 are formed with arcuate surfaces adapted to ride over the adjacent part of the opposite mold in relatively close clearance relation. Accordingly, the mold elements or sections 33 and 40 may swing freely about the axis of the pin 48 Without interference and without leaving appreciable space between the elements in any position.

The conveyor portion of the mold-conveyor assembly comprises a series of identical rigid metal straps 54. At their opposite ends the straps 54 are provided with upstanding ears 56 having apertures 58 through which the pin 48 passes so that the straps and the mold sections are secured together as a unitary assembly with each of the parts relatively movable with respect to the remaining parts.

A tension spring 66 is stretched between screws 62 mounted on the rear surfaces of the mold sections 33 and 40 and is effective to bias the mold sections toward the fully open position as shown the upper and lower stretches in Figure 1. The movement of the mold sections 38 and 40 toward open position is limited by contact of the outer surfaces of the mold sections with the upper surfaces of the adjacent straps 54. It will be noted that when the molds occupy their open position they form a broad fiat pocket or trough which experience has demonstrated facilitates the loading of the food stuffs such as string beans and asparagus either manually or mechanically.

To maintain the upper stretch of the mold-conveyor assembly at substantially uniform height without the imposition of undue tension on the assembly, a pair of horizontal guide rails 63 extend along opposite sides of the conveyor and are secured to the bed of the machine. Also, to facilitate loading, flexible conveyor belts 64 are provided at opposite sides of the mold-conveyor assembly, the belts passing over a roller assembly 65 at one end and at the other end, passing over a driven sprocket assembly, the sprocket and driving assembly being of conventional construction not shown.

The mold assemblies 32 on the upper stretchare moved from right to left as shown in Figure l by'rotation of the control sprocket assembly 28 in a counterclockwise direction 1. The drive mechanism for the control sprocket assembly 28 comprises a gear sprocket 66 rotatably mounted on a projecting end of the shaft 67 carrying the sprocket assembly 28, the gear 66 being driven by an endless chain 68 driven by the output gear 70 of a speed reducing transmission 72. The input shaft 74 of the transmission carries a pulley 76 driven by a motor 78 mounted on the machine bed 20 by a conventional adjustable bracket assembly indicated generally at 80.

The novel control sprocket assembly 28 comprises a pair of rigid metal discs 82 and 84, the disc 82 being best shown in Figures 1 and 4. The discs 82 and 84 are mounted on the shaft 67 and are so spaced apart that they engage the outer surfaces of the mold sections 38 and outwardly of the straps 54, the latter being received in the space between the discs 82 and 84.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 4 the discs 82 and 84, which are symmetrical, are provided with a series of peripheral notches 86 having an arcuate bottom portion formed to receive the portions of the mold sections with relatively small clearance as shown in position A of Figure 4. At opposite sides of the notch 86 respective cam surfaces 88 and 90 are formed which surfaces control the position of the mold sections 38 and 40 throughout the trimming and can filling operation. As the mold sections 38 and 40 approach the control sprocket discs 82 and 84, the forward sections 40 are first contacted by the cam surface 90 which rocks the forward mold sections 40 about the axis of pin 48 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 4. This action rolls the contents of the mold sections slightly, permits better disposition of the contents within the mold and creates a slight void in the area adjacent the edges 42 to facilitate the subsequent closing of the mold.

In the continued rotation of the control sprockets, the pin 48 and the portions of the mold mounted thereon are drawn into the adjacent notch 86 by the tension of the straps 54 with sufiicient force to overcome the action of spring so that the cam surfaces 88 and move the mold sections 38 and 40 to the closed position shown at A in Figure 3. The cam surfaces 88 and 90 are so arranged that the closing action of the molds is completed just before the mold reaches the trimming station 34 so that the contents of the mold are firmly gripped during the trimming operation.

The trimming assembly shown at '34 comprises a pair of circular knives 92 mounted on a shaft 94 driven by a motor 96 through a belt 98 and a pulley 100 mounted on the shaft 94. The knives are arranged closely adjacent the opposite ends of the mold sections 38 and 40 so the contents of the molds will be cut off substantially to the length of the mold sections.

After the trimming operation, the contents of the molds are transferred to cans by means which will now be described in detail. The empty cans are delivered by gravity to the mechanism through an inclined chute assembly 102 mounted on the machine bed 20. The chute 102 is located to the rear of the discs 82 and 84 and opposite two can discs 104 non-rotatably mounted in spaced relation on the shaft 67. The discs 104 (Figure 5) are provided with a series of peripheral notches 106 having an arcuate surface formed on substantially the same radius as a can. The discs 104 are mounted on the shaft 67 so as to dispose the notches 106 in alignment with the notches 86 on the control sprockets 82 and 84. However, the inner surfaces of the notches 106 are radially spaced from the shaft 67 a distance sulficiently greater than the notches 86 so as to dispose the can in alignment of the interior of the closed mold.

At opposite sides of each of the notches 106 the discs 104 are provided with raised stop portions 108 and relieved portions 110. By virtue of this construction the cans issuing from the lower end of the chute 102 roll along the surface 110 and fall into the notch 106 and are held in this position in the further rotation of the discs 104 by the stop portion 108. To positively retain the cans in position in the notches 106, an arcuatetretainer strip 112 concentric with the shaft 67 is mounted opposite the periphery of the discs 104 and extends from a point adjacent the bottom of the can chute 102 to a point directly below the axis of shaft 67. The cans are thus free to fall from the discs 104 after passing the lower end of the retainer strip 112. A delivery chute assembly 114 is mounted on the frame 20 with its upper end opposite the terminal point of the strip 112 and its lower end leading to any conventional storage or conveyor mechanism whereby cans falling from the discs 104 pass by gravity through the chute 114.

The axial position of the cans is determined initially by the location of the chute 102 which delivers the cans onto the discs 104 so that the open ends of the cans are located relatively close to the adjacent end of the molds. A backing plate 116 is mounted by any suitablemeans on the bed 20 opposite the path of the closed ends of the cans to prevent substantial tilting of the cans. As the cans are carried in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figure 1 the closed ends of the cans ride over a cam strip 118 mounted on the retainer plate 116, the height of the cam strip 118 being sufficient to urge the open ends of the cans firmly against the adjacent end of the molds.

The contents of the molds are transferred to the cans by a plurality of cam actuated plunger assemblies indicated generally at 120 rigidly secured to the control sprocket 82 by means of brackets 122 to dispose a plunger assembly in alignment with each of the notches 86 in the disc 82 and consequently in alignment with the molds carried by the discs 82 and 84.

Each plunger assembly 120 includes an elongated rod 124 slidably supported in aligned bearings 126 and 128 formed integrally with the bracket 122. Each of these rods 124 carries a circular head 130 having a diameter slightly less than the diameter of the closed molds. A mounting member 132 is adjustably positioned on the rod 124 by means of a set screw 136 intermediate the bearings 126 and 128 and rotatably supports a cam follower roller 138. The lower surface of member 132 is flattened to ride over the top fiat surface of the bracket 122 to maintain the axis of the follower 138 parallel to a radius of the discs 82 and 84. A spring 140 compressed between the bearing 126 and the member 132 maintains the plunger assembly in retracted position as shown in Figure 2. It will be noted that the stroke of the plunger assembly 120 can be regulated simply by adjusting the position of the member 132 along the rod 124.

The plunger assemblies 120 are operated by a cam comprising an arcuate cam strip 142 formed concentrically about the axis of the shaft 67 attached to asheet metal member 144 rigidly secured to the frame 20. The strip 142 intercepts the cam follower 138 as the latter is carried in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figure 1 by the discs 82 and 84. The cams 118 and 142 are so related that the plunger head 130 enters the molds 32 only after the open ends of the cans are firmly urged against the adjacent surface of the mold by the cam 118.

The cam surfaces 88 and 90 on the control sprockets 82 and 84 are also correlated with the cams 118 and 142 so that during the entire can filling operation the closing pressure exerted on the mold halves 38 and 40 by the respective'cam surfaces is slightly relieved to permit a slight opening movement of the molds as shown in position B in Figure 4 to facilitate the expulsion of the contents of the mold by the head 130 of the plunger assemblies 120. To insure positive retraction of the plungers an additional cam 146 is mounted on the bed 20, the upper end of the cam being substantially opposite the point of maximum lift of the cam 142.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the abovestated objects of the invention have been accomplished by the provision of an extremely simple structurally rugged mechanism for continuously and efiiciently packing food stuffs including delicate and difficult to handle food stuifs. At all stages of operation, through the provision of the unique mold assemblies and simplified mechanisms for operating these assemblies, the molds are disposed in optimum position for the particular operation. For example, at the loading station the molds are disposed in fully open position forming a broad shallow trough to permit a shallow pack long recognized as highly desirable. Subsequently the molds are closed by reversely tilting the forward mold half to facilitate the subsequent final closing without damage to the contents of the mold and eliminating the necessity of complicated interlacing finger mechanisms provided on the molds of the prior art to protect the food stufis being handled. Thereafter, during the trimming operation the molds are fully closed without damage to the contents thereof to permit accurate trimming. Subsequently the molds are slightly opened in timed relation with the action of the simple can positioning mechanism and plunger assemblies to facilitate transfer of food stuffs into the cans.

While the mechanism as shown is particularly adapted to accommodate manual loading, it has been found that the mechanism is also ideally adapted to mechanical loaders of a variety of constructions because of the fact that the molds are completely open to provide a broad flat pocket during the loading operation.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A can filling mechanism comprising an endless conveyor adapted to traverse a loadingstation and a can filling station, a plurality of molds, each mold comprising a pair of arcuate elements pivotally secured to said conveyor, said elements normally forming a relatively shallow trough to facilitate the loading thereof, a sprocket rotatably mounted adjacent said filling station and adapted to carry said conveyor, said sprocket having cam surfaces operative to pivot said mold elements to a predetermined position adjacent said filling station, means for supporting a can in aligned relation with a mold, and means for transferring the contents of the mold to said can.

2. A can filling mechanism comprising an endless conveyor adapted to traverse a loading station and a can filling station, a plurality of molds, each mold comprising a pair of arcuate elements pivotally secured to said conveyor, resilient means biasing said elements apart to form a relatively shallow trough to facilitate the loading thereof, a driven control sprocket rotatably mounted adjacent said can filling station and adapted to carry said conveyor past said can filling station, said sprocket having cam surfaces operative to pivot said mold elements to a predetermined position adjacent said can filling station, means movable with said control sprocket for supporting a can in aligned relation with a mold at said can filling station, and means for transferring the contents of the mold to said can.

3. A can filling mechanism comprising an endless conveyor adapted to traverse a loading station and a can filling station, a plurality of molds, each mold comprising a pair of arcuate elements pivotally secured to said conveyor, resilient means biasing said mold elements apart to form a relatively shallow trough to facilitate the loading thereof, a driven control sprocket rotatably mounted adjacent said filling station and adapted to carry said conveyor past said can filling station, said sprocket having cam surfaces operative to pivot said mold elements to a predetermined position adjacent said can filling station, means movable with said control sprocket for supporting a can in aligned relation with a mold at said can filling station, said cam surfaces also being operative to permit limited opening movement of said mold elements adjacent said can filling station under the influence of said resilient means, a plunger adapted when actuated, to transfer the contents of the mold to said can, and means for actuating said plunger only after said limited opening movement of said mold elements is initiated.

4. A can filling mechanism comprising an endless conveyor adapted to traverse a loading station, a trimming station and a can filling station, a plurality of molds, each mold comprising front and rear arcuate elements pivotally secured to said conveyor, said elements normally forming a relatively shallow trough to facilitate the loading thereof, a driven control sprocket having a peripheral portion adapted to carry said conveyor and said molds past said trimming and can filling stations, said sprocket having cam surfaces operative successively to pivot the front mold element toward the rear mold element and thereafter pivot said rear element toward said front element to close said mold ahead of said trimming station, said cam surfaces also being operative to permit limited opening movement of said mold elements adjacent said can filling station under the influence of said resilient means, means for supporting a can in aligned relation with i a mold at said can filling station, and means for transferring the contents of the mold to said can.

5. In a can filling mechanism, an endless mold-conveyor assembly adapted to traverse a loading station and a can filling station comprising a plurality of molds, each mold including a pair of semi-cylindrical elements, a hinge pin securing pairs of said elements together, a tension spring connected at its opposite ends to a pair of said elements to bias said elements apart to form a relatively shallow trough to facilitate the loading thereof, and a plurality of rigid straps pivotally connected directly to the hinge pins of adjacent molds to maintain a predetermined spacing therebetween while permitting free relative pivotal movement between said mold elements and between the mold elements and said straps.

6. In a can filling mechanism, a plurality of molds each comprising a pair of semi-cylindrical elements; an endless conveyor assembly adapted to carry said molds past a loading station and a can filling station; and a control sprocket assembly adapted to carry said molds past said can filling station, said sprocket assembly comprising a pair of spaced discs successively contacting and supporting said molds adjacent their opposite ends and said discs having cam surfaces operative to pivot said molds to a predetermined position adjacent said can filling station.

De Back Nov. 21, 1939 Carruthers Aug. 11, 1953 

